“No.” Winnie could use a good story. She rubbed at a knot in her shoulder, wishing Horace could really work it out for her.
“He’s moving into Mason Brooks’ old place, which is a shame, but he is not hard on the eyes at all. His name is Gerard …” She continued to talk, but Winnie’s brain got caught on the name like an old record on a scratch.
“I have to go.” She cut Polly off in the middle of explaining what kind of work he’d done in Washington D.C. She raced out of the room, looking everywhere for Gerard. She’d been avoiding him so effectively, she didn’t know where to find him now.
And he might not even be here. He hadn’t moved in yet. Her heart lightened. She still had time to stop this. To get him to see reason. To convince him to go home and leave her alone.
She was so engaged in her hopeful thoughts that she didn’t see Lydia and nearly bowled her over as she raced out of the dining hall.
Lydia appeared much older than she had a year ago when they’d moved here. A mild stroke had affected her ability to walk, and she now used a walker. For so many years, Lydia had been a sassy, fast-talking woman who Winnie wished she could be more like, and it was difficult to see her looking so vulnerable.
“Hi, Lydia,” she said. Part of her wanted to keep rushing about, looking for Gerard, but one look in Lydia’s sad eyes and she knew she needed to stop and talk to her friend. “Let’s find a seat.”
They did, and for an hour the two women talked about their grandchildren and the wedding, until the topic of conversation circled around to their husbands.
“Smitty is gone all the time,” Lydia said. “And it’s not as easy for me to get out and about as it used to be.”
“I’m sorry.” Winnie placed her hand over Lydia’s. “Let’s have a standing lunch date. Every Monday. Does that work for you?”
“You don’t have to do that. You have your friends and your life.” Lydia pulled her hand away. She looked past Winnie’s shoulder, and Winnie turned to find Gerard standing ten feet away, waiting patiently to talk to her. She pretended not to see.
“I want to, Lydia. We used to be the best of friends, and I miss that.”
“Me too. I think someone is trying to get your attention.”
Winnie frowned. She turned, and sure enough, Gerard had moved to being only five feet away. “Do you have a moment?” he asked.
She gave Lydia a hug and walked away quickly. They needed to chat away from public hearing. Once they entered the empty conference room, she rounded on him. “You’re moving here?”
“It’s a nice place.”
“There are other nice places,” she said through her teeth. She’d help him find them, if she needed to.
“Not with you there.” He took her hand. “I’ve missed you, Winnie. You’re still a very beautiful woman.”
She didn’t know what to do with that compliment. Part of her loved hearing it, but another part of her pulled back hard. It felt disloyal to Horace to be in this room with him, much less listening to compliments. She tugged her hand away.
“You can’t say that,” she told him.
“Why not? It’s true. I know your husband doesn’t appreciate you. That he’s gone all the time. That you took him to the same movie we went to when we first met.”
Her face drain of blood. Oh no. She remembered it now. The movie she’d recalled going to with Horace. She’d gone with Gerard. How could she have gotten the two of them mixed up?
She’d so desperately wanted to forget her first marriage. What would Horace think if he knew she’d been married before and never told him? Revealed secrets were tearing the Secret Seven apart. What about her marriage?
After her divorce, she’d been so young, so embarrassed, she’d wanted to put it all behind her. Her parents had been more than happy to pretend her first marriage had never happened.
“I love Horace, Gerard. What you and I had was a mistake, and it was so long ago.”
“Meet me for lunch,” he said, as if she hadn’t spoken at all.
“I can’t. Please, Gerard. Please leave.”
“And I can’t do that,” he said with a determined glint in his eyes she hadn’t forgotten, even after all these years. Gerard had never been a bad man, but he had run over her desires like a truck tire over a daisy. Never willing to compromise or give in. It had been exciting being with the most popular boy in school until she felt suffocated under the force of him and started to lose who she was.
Luckily, he’d divorced her. He’d always been a flirt—he had a way of making you feel like you were the most amazing person in the world—and though he never said, she suspected he’d grown bored of her as she shrank to almost nothing in their marriage. It had been the worst thing that had ever happened to her—and also the best. If he hadn’t left her, she never would have met Horace.
And never would have had this incredible life with him. Withallthe people she loved with her entire soul.
